Civil War II: X-Men #1

Cullen Bunn’s Magneto is one of my all-time favorite comic book series and you should all totally read it. I know I’ve said that a few times, but I thought you guys should know it again. Buy the TPB’s. It’s fantastic. The fact that he wrote this book and Magneto is a main character in it is just another reason for me to recommend it.

Anyway, so Civil War II has come to the X-Men. I’m glad there is a tie-in for them. With Marvel trying to supplant them with the Inhumans and the plot of Civil War II being Inhuman-centric, I’m glad that there is something for the X-Men to do during the new big crossover.

I rather like the premise of this one too. That being said, does anyone else remember the mutant who could see the future called Destiny? She was friends with Mystique. I’m just curious if anyone remembers this character. I thought about it while reading Civil War II #1 and reading this X-Men tie-in to the story, the thought of Destiny keeps returning.

Oh well, anyway, onto the review proper.

The story opens up with Magneto’s cadre of X-Men, consisting of himself, Sabretooth, Psylocke, and M busting open a bunker built by the rich mutants living in Dubai. The bunker was intended to withstand the oncoming Terrigen Cloud. Magneto’s team bring in some of the poorer mutants that live in the city to weather the storm. They begin to feel safe, then servants are revealed to be Sentinel-human hybrids known as Prime Sentinels. The ensuing fight breaks open the sealing of the bunker and all hope seems loss for all mutants involved. Storm’s X-Men reach the scene in time to hold the Terrigen Cloud at bay and help Magneto’s team finish off the Prime Sentinels. After the battle, Psylocke and M catch wind that Storm’s team were warned of this conflict beforehand, and Psylocke pries into their thoughts, discovering the existence of Ulysses. Magneto is already wary of the Inhumans, due to the cloud killing and sterilizing mutants without any visible aid from the Inhumans. This pushes him over the edge, and he begins to speak of war with the Inhumans.

This book was a pretty solid start, and it has a good premise. Magneto has, needless to say, never been one to take anything lying down. It’s only surprising that he hasn’t tried to go after the Inhumans already.

The prelude to this issue is interesting in itslef. Magneto has never been one to have patience for elitism and the privileged class and lifestyle. I could honestly read a story about Magneto busting up and punishing mutants who use their wealth to separate themselves from their kind for comfort. I do suppose that’s what the Hellfire Club was meant to represent, but I digress.

Cullen Bunn is a writer that really gets the character of Eric Lensherr, and this book only further solidifies that fact. All characters feel properly represented in this comic for that matter. Everyone has a little moment to show who they are.

The pacing is really good overall. The opening is exciting. The two X-Men teams work together very well, but, when there isn’t a common and immediate threat, the tension between them is palpable. This conflict is honestly established a little better than the main story of Civil War II. In that, it seems like the mere existence of Ulysses suddenly causes people to start drawing lines in the sand. Here, it’s already established that Magneto has a grudge with the Inhumans over the cloud.

The penciling is pretty good for the most part. There are some scenes where the detail isn’t particularly well-shown. The color art is fantastic. The colors pop really well, and it makes each scene very eye-catching. I’ve always loved how colorful super hero costumes are, so seeing someone who goes for the brightest colors on the pallet was a treat for me.

I’m going to talk about the ending twist a bit now, so here’s the spoiler warning. I’m not sure why Nightcrawler is the one siding with Magneto over Storm, even on this matter. Kurt Wagner is the optimist, and I could see him assuaging for diplomacy no matter the circumstances. His hope has almost never run out in the past. With Old Man Logan being conflict-averse (along with the presence of Sabretooth), I could see Magik being the more likely traitor. She has always been angrier than her brother and definitely more so than Kurt. Even in this issue, she expresses some frustrations with their current situation. That’s just me though, and I am not ready to write it off as character dissonance yet. I’m curious to see where Bunn goes with this.

Overall, it’s a solid start to the story. It’s got a good cast, a good premise, and a very talented writer at the helm. I’m very optimistic about how this story is going to turn out. Give it a try.